Paul George participates in 3-on-3, still no update on his return

Welcome to the first edition of Clippers Clippings, the best way to check in on the Clippers in between game days.

Clippers Clippings - Newcomers Paul George, Rodney McGruder, and Patrick Patterson are all acclimating at their own pace to becoming Clippers. 

• The big news in practice today was Paul George playing full-court 3-on-3. George teamed with Rodney McGruder and Clippers player development coach Larry Abney against Jerome Robinson and rookies Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele. They played with a 14-second shot clock, game pace, and limited contact. George's jumper looked good, and he unleashed a one-handed dunk in transition.
  
  
Head coach Doc Rivers had no update on when George would return, though he clarified by saying he hasn't asked. "I’ve always believed the trainer. At some point, someone’s gonna tell me he can play," Rivers said. "I’ve never really gotten involved in it." 

• Elsewhere on the injury front, Rivers and the Clippers are still working on getting Rodney McGruder back in game shape. McGruder sprained his right ankle during training camp, forcing him to miss the final three preseason games and the first four exhibition games. 
  
  
In his two games back (at Utah and vs. San Antonio), McGruder has totaled 25 minutes. He attempted three field goals against the Jazz, missing all of them, and didn't take a shot in 7 minutes against the Spurs. Interestingly, McGruder didn't register a single box score stat in Thursday's game (a seven trillion for those of you who are so inclined). Rivers acknowledged the difficult task McGruder faces acclimating to a new team after having missed so much practice time while still trying to get his wind back. "He’s just still out of sync," Rivers said on McGruder. "He’s gonna help us though. He’s tough, he’s smart. It’s tough missing that much at the beginning of the year with a new team, so we just have to be patient with him. I’m trying to get him like 2 or 3 minute stints just to try and get his rhythm, and hopefully I can slowly increase his minutes."

• Patrick Patterson, another new face, has been able to integrate more seamlessly into the Clippers rotation, given that he is healthy and part of the starting lineup. However, he still has his moments where he forgets that he is no longer a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 
  
  "The only difficult thing for me is learning offense and trying to get OKC play calls out of my head on the defensive side of the ball," Patterson said. "I'm still slowly getting there. Teammates are looking at me sometimes cause I'm calling out a coverage from OKC and they're getting all confused and the coaching staff is looking at me like, 'What are you doing?' So I'm almost there. It's just a progress."
  
  One thing Patterson has had to change in Los Angeles is being more aggressive on the offensive glass. He describes himself as a player who likes to immediately get back in transition defense, but the coaching staff is giving him some freedom to go for offensive rebounds. Patterson had four offensive boards in the win over San Antonio, which led to four additional points.